The invention is particularly, but not exclusively, applicable to the technical field of systems for controlling parameters relating to the climatic environmental conditions of enclosed spaces. This general term signifies not only enclosed spaces such as the cooking chambers of ovens for foods but also climate-controlled rooms or public environments. In the first case, the cooking chamber is considered to be a climate-controlled space in which some parameters, such as the temperature and humidity, are specified and controlled in their variation in time, in corresponding cooking cycles. In the second case, these parameters can be specified and controlled in time for the climate control of environments such as the rooms of buildings. In both cases, the climate control system includes equipment which is suitably regulated and controlled to provide the predetermined values of the aforementioned parameters.
Typically, the predetermined control curves of these parameters are specified by providing interfaces by means of which the operator can enter, for each parameter, sequences of pairs of values representing the variation of the parameter as a function of time in a predetermined time interval. In cooking ovens, for example, there are known methods of specifying the parameters of a predetermined cooking cycle, wherein the operator has to enter numeric sequences of the aforesaid type, which express the desired curves of variation of the parameters during the cooking cycle. The entry of these sequences, normally carried out using interfaces with alphanumeric keypads, is a rather time-consuming operation which is not particularly convenient for the operator, since it takes a considerable time and does not provide the operator with a simple immediate display of the data entered. Other setting procedures require the entry of the pairs of values for each control curve by means of knobs for selecting the predetermined numeric values. These methods also suffer from the limitations mentioned above and from the complexity due to the time taken by the operator to set the data.
The limits and problems encountered by the operator of a cooking oven, who may be an ordinary cook rather than an expert user of the oven, are also encountered by an operator who has to specify the control curves of a climate control system for environments. The problem in question is therefore common to both of the technical fields mentioned above.
The fundamental problem of the invention is that of providing a method for specifying the aforesaid parameters which is functionally designed in such a way that the limitations of the aforementioned prior art can be overcome.